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Wits University begins South African trial of Novavax COVID-19 vaccine

NVX-CoV2373 is produced by the biotech company, Novavax (Maryland, U.S.A). Novavax is a late-stage biotechnology company that develops next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases.

17 Aug 2020

Fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in big cats at the Bronx Zoo

Researchers studying tigers and lions at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Bronx Zoo in New York City have studied the first known cases in the United States of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) being naturally transmitted from humans to animals.

17 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 poses significant threat to many marine mammal species

A new study conducted by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, has found that many species of marine mammal are highly vulnerable to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

17 Aug 2020

Study shows low rate of verified SARS-CoV-2 infections among cancer patients

A study led by MedUni Vienna has analysed Covid-19 infection rates among cancer patients treated at Vienna General Hospital.

17 Aug 2020

New test provides information on immune response to Sars-Cov-2 in transplant patients

Even patients with suppressed immune systems can achieve a strong immune response to Sars-Cov-2. A test helps to adapt therapy following an infection.

17 Aug 2020

New clinical practice guidelines on optimal management of patients with COPD

A subcommittee of the American Thoracic Society Assembly in Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology has released new clinical practice guidelinesto help advise clinicians on the optimal management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic hypercapnia. Hypercapnia is the buildup of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream.

17 Aug 2020

Trust, fear and solidarity will determine the success of a COVID vaccine

Thousands of letters stuffed with money flooded Jonas Salk's mailbox the week after his polio vaccine was declared safe and effective in 1955. Everybody wanted his vaccine.

17 Aug 2020

PPE shortage could last years without strategic plan, experts warn

Shortages of personal protective equipment and medical supplies could persist for years without strategic government intervention, officials from health care and manufacturing industries have predicted.

17 Aug 2020

With COVID vaccine trial, rural Oregon clinic steps onto world stage

From the outside, it appears to be just another suburban allergy clinic, a tidy, tan brick-and-cinder-block building set back from a busy highway and across the road from an auto parts store.

17 Aug 2020

Startling report suggests COVID-19 may have first appeared in 2012

Now, a report on the website Independent Science News by researchers Jonathan Latham, and Allison Wilson suggests that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), may not have originated at a Wuhan wet market in 2019, but 1,000 miles away in 2012, in a Chinese mineshaft where workers fell ill with a mysterious, pneumonia-like illness after being exposed to bats.

17 Aug 2020

Can the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 be spread through frozen food?

It is well-known that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), can spread through respiratory droplets when people sneeze, cough, or talk. Recent evidence has also shown that the virus can hang in the air for hours, hinting at the possibility of airborne transmission.

17 Aug 2020

Scientists claim signs of lasting SARS-CoV-2 immunity

Questions have been raised by many health experts on whether being infected with SARS-CoV-2 brings lasting immunity. Now, scientists have uncovered signs of strong and lasting immunity in people who even had a mild illness of COVID-19.

17 Aug 2020

Coronacept - A trap-and-destroy molecule against SARS-CoV-2

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in August 2020 reports a novel engineered molecule based on human and other mammalian orthologues of ACE2 fused with the Fc part of the antibody. This molecule interacts more tightly with the viral receptor-binding domain (RBD) to constitute a powerful immunoadhesin that targets the virus for destruction.

17 Aug 2020

Targeting SARS-CoV-2 with off-the-shelf CAR-NK cells

The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread and cause disease and death in many countries even today. At present, there is no effective treatment. A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports the potential of a new class of drugs called CAR NK cells, which could be used off-the-shelf to treat this disease.

17 Aug 2020

Potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 identified

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports the discovery of two inhibitors of the helicase enzyme, which is essential for viral replication and the most highly conserved non-structural coronavirus (CoV) protein.

16 Aug 2020

ARDS may not be the primary lung iInjury in COVID-19

A new Italian study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020 shows that this may not be an adequate explanation, since ARDS is a nonspecific diagnosis. Instead, they say, antemortem lung biopsy shows a “Covid pattern” of acute lung injury, which could guide the application of therapeutics.

16 Aug 2020

Scientists reveal most likely order of COVID-19 symptoms

Now, a team of researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) has revealed the order of symptoms often experienced by those who infected with SARS-CoV-2. Knowing the order of the symptoms may help the patients seek medical help immediately. The research is published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.

16 Aug 2020

U.S. scientists to create coronavirus strain for human challenge trials

Now, a team of scientists in the United States plans to create a coronavirus strain that can be used for human challenge trials, a controversial type of study wherein health volunteers would be vaccinated and intentionally infected with the virus.

16 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike pocket is a putative target for antiviral design

In a methodologically rigorous study, researchers from the University of Oxford have recently shown how the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein harbors a lipid-binding pocket which modulates the stability of the prefusion trimer and provides conformational shielding from antibodies. Their findings are currently freely available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

16 Aug 2020

Multiphase program provides valuable lessons for advancing the fight against malaria

The intensive implementation of currently available tools to fight malaria can achieve a drastic reduction in disease burden, but is not enough to interrupt its transmission.

15 Aug 2020